A Peck on the Cheek.

Mani Ratnam is one of India’s finest directors -- someone who consistently explores complex issues in dramatic settings -- and in "A Peck on the Cheek," we get Ratnam at his best.
The story revolves around a family that has an adopted girl named Amudha. The girl's real mother, Shyama played by Nandita Das who had to give her away after fleeing Sri Lanka, where separatists have waged a bloody campaign against the central government. After learning the truth about her adoption, the 9-year-old Amudha (P.S. Keerthana) persuades her parents (Madhavan and Simran) to search for her biological mother -- a journey that takes the well-off couple and their wide- eyed daughter through the minefield that is Sri Lanka. What they witness is unnerving and edifying -- unnerving because they put themselves in the middle of a dangerous war, edifying because it makes them understand the pressures that Shyama faced when she relinquished her daughter.
Ratnam conveys the conflicted feelings of Amudha and Shyama to great effect. The film is written, produced and directed by Mani Ratnam . The music by A.R.Rahman is melodious and fluent while the photography Ravi Chandran is excellent and brings to life the beautiful country that is SriLanka. R.Madhavan , as the adopted father of Amudha, P.S.Keerthana as Amudha and Nandita Das as Shyama have put up excellent performance under the direction of Ratnam.

It is one of those "must see films".

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